Whatcha Been Playing?

[Magical_Isopod]

I'm also presently jumping back and forth between:
- No More Heroes 2 (how have I not played this absolutely bonkers masterpiece til now?)

Glad to see new people enjoying that one. Did you play the first before?

I played a bit of the first one, but that open world and side job stuff completely lost my interest. NMH2 doesn't waste my time like the first one, so I like it far more.

[Scrustle]

I'm also presently jumping back and forth between:
- No More Heroes 2 (how have I not played this absolutely bonkers masterpiece til now?)

Glad to see new people enjoying that one. Did you play the first before?

I played a bit of the first one, but that open world and side job stuff completely lost my interest. NMH2 doesn't waste my time like the first one, so I like it far more.

Ah that's a shame. It might be worth trying out the PS3 version though. It adds in more side jobs that are a bit more interesting/more variety, and it drastically reduces the amount of money you need for entry fees, so you rarely need to do much of the side job stuff anyway.

[Jon Cheetham]

Imagine dropping a game's price to 25% of the launch price after a game surpasses sales expectations? In the same year of release? Nintendo seems to think 25% off Mario Galaxy - a game over 2 years old - is a bargain... Yeesh. They could learn a thing or two from Capcom.

But seriously, I love noir filters in certain games. LA Noire is another one that benefits greatly from this. But as a pro tip... Every game can have a noir filter if you fiddle with your TV's colour settings. ;D I have a few different pre-sets I use for different games. I have a sepia-tone setup I use for old movies and such - I made it for watching vintage Twilight Zone.

Yeah was a treat, since I gave Capcom full price for DMC5 back when it came out and that's had some deep discounts too!

That's a good idea. I'd love to play Bloodborne with a noir filter. Threaded cane, the fancy Cainhurst clothes, could be a whole thing.

[Michiel K]

Thanks everyone. Yes, out of nowhere. Sat down at a football match feeling fine, ten minutes later was a complete mess! Anyway, hopefully on the mend. Wish you all a fantastic Christmas.

I’ll never look at Soboteur in the same way again...

Geez, hope you recover full and well, Steve.

[dezm0nd]

Been playing The Touryst and I'm enjoying it. Reminding me of FEZ a bit. It's definitely an interesting game for sure

[Alex79]

Been playing The Touryst and I'm enjoying it. Reminding me of FEZ a bit. It's definitely an interesting game for sure

I remember being really interested when I saw the trailer then totally forgot about it. Its good, then?

[Scrustle]

Been playing Need for Speed: Most Wanted (original flavour) recently. Still on this kick of replaying old racing games. Got bored of TDU and SRS, so it's back to where I left off with the NFS games. So far I'm having fun, but I don't think time has been as kind to this game as Underground 2. While MW seems like an improvement, bringing back the police chase mechanics that U2 lacked, I don't think the car handling is quite as good. While police chases are fun, and I can't think of any racing game that's ever done better to date, there's a sense that the handling in MW lacks a certain layer of subtlety U2 has. While it's still fun and responsive, it doesn't have the sense of inertia U2 has. It feels simpler and a bit less rewarding. I suppose there's a trade-off there with the new police chase systems providing a more varied experience that is more than just racing, but after all these years the novelty has worn off a tad as the flaws in the system become more apparent. Meanwhile, U2's handling has aged like a fine wine. This isn't a new revelation though, as I have been back to both these games at various points through the years, and had similar impressions. But I suppose the longer time goes on, the more the more disparate the comparison seems. I suppose playing them both so close together also adds to that.

[ReprobateGamer]

After being a bit lax with my Christmas wish list, I received a copy of Anthem for Christmas

I had tried it out in the various alpha and tech tests over summer and it was a mess with a whole gamut of issues, so I was at least interested to see if several months of actual release had sorted out the game.

After a couple of hours, it looks like they may have.

The world of Anthem is a glorious riot of colour with a verticality missing from most other games and some truly alien architecture. The lore is fascinating - not quite to Destiny or Mass Effect standards but definitely of interest. And the score is wonderful with a genuine attempt to find it's own sound (Sarah Schachner on form).

The mech suits ('javelins' in universe) handle differently and are suitably weighty and the flight mechanic is a wonderful addition to the looter shooter genre. It was nice to go into a mission and actually have a full team from public servers without people speeding through the missions or someone playing their personal choice of music across team chat - something I'm consistently missing from Division 2 (maybe when I finally reach world tier 5 ...)

Anthem is not perfect by any means - the flight mechanic still overheats just a little too quickly (though improved from the alphas), the weapon handling feels a little floaty and I wonder exactly how much content there is for the long term. There was also a crash and return to main menu however, the game did return to the exact point of the crash

This does seem like a case where the initial reviews don't reflect the present state of the game - whether it'll continue to get the support that it still requires (see Destiny 2 or Warframe, or anything by Ubisoft) remains to be seen.

[DomsBeard]

So I've given up on Jedi Fallen Order

I've found it so tedious and awkward for awkwards sake with its traversal. Married to an infuriating map system and a story and protagonist that is as dull as dish water. It's a Star Wars game by the makers of Titanfall how could they have cocked it up

Santa brought me every single Kingdom Hearts as I've always wanted to give these a go. Slow opening but I've just met the Disney boys so hopefully it'll get going.

Most of my time has been spent on Destiny 2 on *cough* Stadia. Gunplay is so much fun and its great depending on my mood I can play solo on Patrol or do strikes with a fireteam

[Suits]

So I've given up on Jedi Fallen Order

Married to an infuriating map system .....

So, it’s funny you say this, as when I’ve heard people describing the map, they’ve said it has a great map system, similar to the Metroid Prime application.

I always found the Metroid Prime map maddening, almost like I’m missing a key part of its function and was never able to confidently plot a route from area to area.

[Suits]

I just finished Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow.

It took well over a year to get my hands on this cartridge and I was looking forward to playing it.

TLDR - It delivered.

I’d already played Dawn of Sorrow and rate that very highly, having now played this I understand more of the flimsy story and stupid characters - but it still feels gratifying nonetheless.

Highlight of this game by far, is the castle. It was compact, compelling and surprising.

I was impressed by some of the pseudo Mode 7 stuff it was playing with and parallax scrolling of the background effects. For a GBA cart it still really holds up and does a fantastic job of creating atmosphere and mood.

When I finally finished it, I was way over powered.

I was level 50 and could at very most, triple shot any enemy. I had all the abilities, the best armour, weapon and item.

I finished the game then (admittedly) had to look up the secret "real" ending. I had found the books, just didn’t work out the riddle.

The final 5%, meaning the final boss and secret ending boss I managed to beat first time without need to raid any late game items from my inventory.

Hard to say which Sorrow game I prefer, the sequel comes with the benefits that a next generation console brings, as well as extra buttons, SCREEN, pixels and speakers. But Aria has a better castle.

It was a perfect end to a brilliant game, the overpowered end felt like the sweet inside of a luxury desert, by itself would be too sweet overall but being the final mouthful made it highly gratifying.

Everyone needs a Christmas game.

Everyone needs an Igarashi game.

[Magical_Isopod]

I wanted to rent Astral Chain, but someone rented it literally that same day. So I rented Fire Emblem Three Musketeers instead... I don't know if I like this game. I like Fire Emblem in principle. But they always feel cheap, slow, and kinda samey. Similar to Pokemon games - and I really did not like the Sword/Shield games - Fire Emblem just kinda... Comes out. And it's exactly what you expect.

I'll keep hammering away at this one, but I'm definitely glad I rented it, because it's doing absolutely nothing to impress me and get me invested.

[Magical_Isopod]

So I returned Fire Emblem: Three Stooges to the rental store after giving it another go today... And I think its greatest sin, above all, is dumping way too much content on me before giving me a reason to care. The game demands, "Hey, fight these bandits! Make dinner with this waifu! Explore the hub world! Talk to every NPC!" and I can only respond, "Why should I?" Nintendo's games are frequently far too presumptuous in this regard. I had exactly the same issue with Breath of the Wild -- though Fire Emblem, at very least, was fun to play during the combat parts, which BOTW can't say.

But I did rent Yooka-Laylee & The Impossible Lair and you know what? Good game. I really like this one. I had meant to write about DKCR for the Podcast, but never got around to it... I didn't like that one. I mean, it was okay. But I didn't see the "return to form" it was heralded to be by the Followers of Holy Nintendo. I like this one better. Sacrilege, I'm sure. I think part of its charm is just the lack of tedium and BS here. The levels I've played so far feel well-designed and deliberate, and there's no massive exposition dump prefacing the experience. Curious to see how Tropical Freeze will compare when I get around to playing that one.

[DeadpoolNegative]

The Last of Us Remastered- thanks, PlayStation Plus! So, after six years, I finally get to play this game. I just never got around to it, I was an Xbox guy in the previous generation. And the opening sequence is one of the finest and most terrifying sequences I have every played in a game. It's imaginative and builds a real sense of dread.

And as I played through the opening hours afterwards, (I'm currently with Bill), as Joel, Ellie, and Tess, and later Joel and Tess, find their way throughout the wrecked America, as Joel chokes out human and clicker alike, as the game progresses I came to a horrifying realization:

Holy smokes, I am BORED.

The Last of Us is a victim of its own success in a way for me. In the half decade plus since I took off I have found myself in several dark corridors killing people in bleak, uncompromising game worlds that have been overrun by zombies or aliens or struck by a meteorite or overrun by zombies but not quite zombies or Nazis. Or at least, it FEELS like I have. There's something almost quaint about the way the game grinds you down, to make you feel as exhausted as the game world would make someone like Joel feel exhausted. The thing is Bioshock Infinite did this much faster and in a more exciting fashion (but unbearably nihilistic).

And I suppose that's fine, but there's nothing in the gameplay here that really grabs me, and everyone Joel and Ellie meets seems to be in a more interesting game than those two are. Baker and Johnson are good, but they've been better elsewhere.

Also, there was a part in this remastered version of a six year old game where Ellie and Joel were sneaking through a wrecked corridor and Ellie stood up, stretched her arms out and floated through the furniture

I'm not sure I'll go back to it, except out of a sense of obligation. I'm told it gets more compelling in the back half, but I'm surprisingly not feeling it. Which makes it all the more strange that I recently played and really good time with...

Days Gone Oh, I'm sorry, these are FREAKERS, not zombies (or clickers). I'll be the first to admit this game has problems. It's too long, for one thing, which is why I played it on Easy. It's actually GOT story, but it holds a lot of it behind some grindy, repetitive missions. There was a moral choice system that Bend Studio removed seemingly late in development, because, and rightfully so, I think, it made Deacon St. John too much of an asshole, and in the final product he's just borderline. You can definitely see this in the contrast between the Tucker and Copeland camps. The game probably wanted you to send more survivors to each camp and debate on which one was better or worse, but in the final product it's just do you want more loyalty or money, or just loyalty or just money? There's also the fact that Deacon won't take Boozer to either camp despite his injury and they keep asking Deek where Boozer is and he evades every answer. I think there was something there.

A digression about Copeland for a moment: this is one of the odder things I've come across in a game recently. Copeland is an Alex Jones type who rants about the fact that now the Freakers have (seemingly) destroyed the world Americans are finally free to be Americans and have thrown off the yoke of the US Government. He's voiced by Crispin Freeman in his maximum "This is a BAD DUDE" dudgeon. Whenever Deek intercepts one of his many radio transmissions Deek always responds with shouts and hollers about what a paranoid dweeb he was before the fall of civilization and how he shouldn't be taken seriously.

The thing is, with all the stuff that eventually happens in the game, especially with NERO and their strange intentions, Copeland is essentially RIGHT to be so paranoid- the government was doing some shady, strange stuff at Sarah's lab, someone tried to blow the whistle, and now everything's gone to shit, NERO is still experimenting and not telling the truth about what's going on, and everyone needs to pick up a gun and protect themselves. Bend Studio's writers clearly don't intend for Copeland to be seen as a good person, but in the early hours of the game, in contrast to Tucker, he feels like at the very least an honorable man. He's apologetic to Deacon about the loss of his bike. His camp looks rickety but the people there seem satisfied. Whereas at Tucker's camp she's got better amenities, better security, and better merchandise, but she's essentially running a forced labor camp. Although it's never explained what, exactly, she's doing. Is she supplying food? Does she run some sort of racket with the other camps? Iron MIke's crew seemingly doesn't need her help (and in fact Deacon and Boozer were exiled from Mike's camp for doing business with her) and it seems like nobody north knows about what's beyond the mountains down south. I really thought in the final act of the game there would be some sort of "Unite the camps" mission where Deacon tries to get everyone together, which would pay off your interaction with both Tucker and Copeland. But that doesn't happen; once you get to Iron Mike's both Copeland and Tucker recede from the narrative only to pop up offering occasional side quests.

Noah Gervais, for my money one of the best analysts on YouTube, even if he's unconscionably long*, did a fantastic video contrasting the pacing and structure of both Days Gone and Horizon Zero Dawn. I also played Horizon this year (and maybe one day I'll get around to discussing it) and while like Noah, I'd agree that in every aspect I think Horizon is the better game, I have to part ways with Noah I certainly didn't mind spending time with Deacon St. John (Granted, Gervais admitted St. John remind him too much of some real life people he's dealt with). And that largely has to do with the actor who's playing him.

When I first played The Force Unleashed a decade ago (I'm trying to play it again now, with diminishing returns), I really loved the game, I thought it was fantastic. it made me, however briefly, believe in Star Wars again. And a good credit for that goes to Sam Witwer.

Witwer is one of those actors that, while physically he looks kind of weird, and will probably be stuck in genre pieces for the rest of his life, is actually quite good, usually better than the material requires (Other genre examples of this include Aaron Douglas and Morena Baccarin). he brings a lot to his characters. Can one mocap performance make a game? Probably not, but I doubt I would have made it through all of Days Gone if Witwer wasn't with me.

In his video, Noah complained that Deacon St. John is a wife guy, the kind of stupid violent goof that doesn't kill women- except in a side quest! The thing is, Witwer does interesting things with that. It's clear that the loss of Sarah means Deacon is really not all there anymore. He mutters under his breath, whines to no one when he's all alone, he can't quite let go of his fear and anger at others and just rejoin civilization even though that's the smart play. He cares about Boozer deeply but also can't explain to him how he's really feeling. He refuses to see Iron Mike's pragmatism until Mike literally shoves him into it. When he discovers Lisa, Witwer shows the conflict within Deacon: On the one hand, he desperately wants to help this girl but on the other he really has no fucking idea whatsoever how to deal with someone who's even more psychologically broken than he is, so he keeps trying to push her off onto someone else. And that has consequences.

And it helps that they do these flashback missions illustrating his relationship with Sarah (It's also very video game logic that both Deacon AND Sarah's past actions contributed to central sections of the overall plot. Oregon's a small state I guess). Courtnee Draper is fun and flirty and there's a little hint in both actors' performances that the reason the two connected is that they're so different. They're a release valve from the other's day to day. The buttoned up scientist and the likely untreated PTSD afflicted ex-military biker. That hilarious wedding scene works because in ways they're both playing a role (Is it just me, or does Sarah have zero tattoos in her first flashback scene?). Maybe because Elizabeth is still so seared in my mind after all these years, but it felt like Sarah was significantly younger than Deacon, even though there's only an eight year age difference between Draper and Witwer. And the whole thing about Sarah pays off in the end, even if you see it coming a mile away (I'm trying to be not too spoilery here, but...)

There's a lot of other good voice acting in the game too, Eric Allan Kramer, who will always be MY Thor, dammit, is almost unrecognizable as Mike at first. He brings a lot of depth to a thinly written role (but even he can't sell "Why is Skizzo still around"). Nishi Munshi, whom I've never heard of, has a lot of chemistry with Witwer as she tries to get Deacon to grow up and integrate herself with the rest of the camp. There's Debra Wilson, playing The Debra Wilson Video Game Character, and well, as always. Bernado De Paula does a surprising amount with the O'Brian character even though for the majority of the game his face is completely covered. The character is the typical wimpy scientist guy Who Secretly Knows More Than He's Letting On, but Can't Tell The Hero Because Plot. In fact, in the movie version he would be played likely by Mark O'Brien. But DePaula brings a weariness to the character that gives him a bit of pathos. O'Brian may be "protected" but he doesn't like his bosses any more than Deacon can tolerate Tucker and Copleand.

I've been taking about the acting but I haven't gone much into the plot, that's because the game is saved a lot by its acting. Yet there's a lot in the game writing, credited mostly to co-director John Garvin with Anne Toole, that's strong. It's a very schizophrenic experience. Like Deacon can't understand why Iron Mike is so tolerant of the Rippers, and at first the player almost can't. Why negotiate with them? Why not take them out? Well, eventually Iron Mike doesn't just explain to Deacon he shows him. And while eventually he's proven wrong by what happens, Iron Mike's desire NOT to have blood on his people's hands, makes a twisted sort of sense when you discover what he went through in the early days of the fall of civilization. Of course, going on during the Iron Mike section is all the stuff with Skizzo. While I'll give Jason Spisak credit for his enthusiasm, this character makes no fucking sense whatsoever. He's mean, he's disruptive, nobody likes him... but Iron Mike keeps him around, and doesn't really answer when Deacon asks him point blank as to why. It's bizarre how the writing takes so much care with most of its characterization yet Skizzo is such an obvious one. Even the military weirdos you run into later in the game, as bent as they are, seem functional. With Skizzo you're just waiting for him to turn on you, and he does in the most predictable fashion. And he leaves the plot and arrives in times of maximum convenience.

Rikki is a good character, and her interactions with Deacon and The Debra Wilson character are a highlight of the game. I sometimes think The Debra Wilson Character was a victim of the cutting room floor, since she has a bit of a half-formed arc. Garrett is a familiar stereotype, and Daniel Riordan is doing his usual schtick, but he has his moments, even if it's hard to believe someone so obviously mental could hold such sway over seemingly rational people.

I haven't talked too much about the gameplay, but I do like it; I like having to worry about gas, blowing up nests, taking out freaks, being very careful about my ammo and not getting caught by hordes early in the game. It helps that a lot of the fast travel and power ups do feel useful, so you're compelled to check off all the things on the map.

But here's the weird thing.

I can't take down a horde.

Now, the game makes you wait a long, long, LOOOOOOONG time before it gives you the tools necessary to take out a horde. When I got that napalm I was fucking overjoyed! Finally we're gonna have some fun!

And I couldn't' do it.

I tried once. twice. three times. TEN TIMES. And over and over again, I could barely make a dent in the horde. I would run away. I would try to redirect. But I'd get off my bike, position myself, lure some freakers to a bottleneck or corridor, and success! But I could never take out enough for me to protect myself long enough to get back on my bike and get away. I tried strategically attacking certain areas, but I could never make any progress. The AI for the hordes would simply outmaneuver me. My guns were never powerful enough. The napalms never had enough spread.

And then the game lets me skip them! It lets me skip the story required horde takedowns. I really needed to finish the game and move on to other things, so I shamefully moved on. I don't know if Im just clumsy or needed to practice more. But here's the game's big standout setpiece and I cannot do it.

Football Game- a point and click adventure game from Ratalaika and Developer Cloak and Dagger games. Protagonist Tommy, a high school football player, wakes up after a bout of heavy drinking, ready to give his girlfriend her big birthday present. But his mother has grounded him after she smells booze on his breath. Tommy's got to get to that football game, though.

This is one strange, tough game to like- but I thought it was successful in what it was trying to do. The purposefully crappy Sierra-style graphics and moody, Lynchian atmosphere go a long way to making me want to find out how it all ended. There's a minimal but ambient score by Jupiter-C that I liked.

Of course, it's pretty easy to figure out that Tommy's situation is a lot more complicated than he's willing to let on, and the game ends surprisingly abruptly (took me about 90 minutes to polish off), but I think that works in its favor. You're left to put the pieces together of what Tommy did or didn't do, and make your own choice. $4.99 may seem a bit much for a game that has so little replay value, but it's cheaper than a movie ticket these days...

*...Ummmmmmm

[Magical_Isopod]

I echo your feelings on The Last of Us, but I played it when the Remastered version on PS4 first came out, whenever that was. 2014? I don't think it's a matter of age that marrs it, I think it's just one of those games people decided was going to be great before it even came out. It's... Fine. It's just not groundbreaking or a must-read by any means.

[Flabyo]

It does fun things with its story that I liked, but I always thought the combat in Last of Us was functional rather than exceptional. But I say that of most of the Uncharted games too and I like those a lot.

I can forgive a lot of mechanical failings if the story is engaging me, and I know that I’m in the minority on that in general. It’s why I love Senua when I know people that thought the mechanics in that were dreadful.

I do have my limits though, Xenosaga part 2 for example is *so* mechanically awful that no story was going to keep me playing that.

[Stanshall]

The Last Of Us does have functional, restricted gameplay which is in service to the story, hence all the arenas. Nevertheless, I absolutely adored it at the time because of the characters and (environmental) storytelling, and it does build and build to a very well earned, emotional resolution. The Left Behind DLC is arguably even better because the gameplay starts at endgame complexity and challenge and the story elements are much bolder in how low-key and reflective they are. The balance and contrasts are handled so well.

That said, I've never completed Remastered despite several attempts and it's because I find the gameplay quite repetitive and frustrating these days. In a post-MGSV world, I find instant kill stealth sections a big turn-off but this goes back to the point I made earlier. The gameplay is in service to the story. It's a prerequisite that each gameplay section goes as the narrative intends. Still, that's not the real strength of the game and without seeing the whole story and the character developments and key narrative beats, I can understand someone dropping it as I've done several times since. It doesn't mean that all the praise for the story and acting is WRONG or that the powers that be decided it MUST be a success and all the sheeple lapped it up. It was a brilliant game in 2013 and still is in certain ways.

The combat at the time was actually notable for a number of strengths:

- Creative approach to stealth (albeit with plenty of smoke and mirrors)
- Tension of crafting in real time.
- Very brutal violence, especially with melee combat
- Tactical use of sound design (which is still phenomenal)
- Good pacing with weapon options.

It didn't seem limited at the time, it was innovative in some ways and very effective and impactful. It was also very tense and well paced, and you always felt like you'd narrowly scraped through every scenario.

It was let down by the arena syndrome and by Ellie sometimes breaking the immersion by existing outside the rules of combat. These things were highlighted at the time as fair criticisms.

It's not suddenly a shit game because our eyes have been opened. It's just been superceded in certain areas. Having recently gone back to God of War, RDR2 and Spiderman for the nth time, I'd say that in terms of the narrative and characters, it's still leagues ahead of the best-regarded third-person story games of the last however many years. I can't say for certain, though, without completing these others.

[Magical_Isopod]

I think it depends largely on what hooks you in a story. Flabyo mentioned Xenosaga 2 in their comment, and while I haven't yet played it, I know that the type of narrative presented in its marketing and reviews will likely be enough to keep my invested for a while.

Stanshall mentioned Spiderman, and while I did love the gameplay in that one, the rote, predictable superhero comic book plot was an absolute snoozer for me, and I couldn't be arsed to finish it.

I just didn't find The Last Of Us's aggressive cynicism to be realistic or engaging.

[Alex79]

The Last Of Us was a great game in 2013 and it still is now. I played it again this year and its held up remarkably well. Held up is really the wrong phrase anyway, it's only six years old. It's not like I'm talking about a 1985 Spectrum game.

[MauricioMM]

I only played Dragon Quest 9 and I really enjoyed it! Quite old school but mostly free of the more annoying pitfalls of JRPGs. Just a really chill time and does not take itself too seriously so I would personally recommend it if you are looking for more Dragon Quest.

I might try it, if I manage to find a copy in my country and if the online component isn't too obligatory in the first place. And yeah, the Dragon Quest games are pretty chill experiences, I recommend them especially if one needs to take a break from either western RPGs or other JRPG IPs.

If you are stuck at any point definitely do not feel bad about consulting a walkthrough. Some of the puzzles are ridiculously obscure, had me pulling out my hair at times.

Oh yeah, I have already It's not the toughest game of its kind I've seen so far (I'm halfway through Rubacava) but it did make me scratch my head in some parts. What I'm loving the most about it is its Día de los Muertos aesthetics and its characters